ramthis9501
12-03-2011, 11:48 AM
This is a DIY on how to change your interior lights over to LEDs in a 94-01 Dodge Ram. Number of lights needed may be different depending on the year of your truck. This is for an 01 Dodge Ram. Before we get started, this is strictly a DIY. Neither I or ORC is responsible for your actions. Any screwups are on you.
Tools required...
Philips Screwdriver
Flathead Screwdriver
Needlenose Pliers
Knife or somekind of prying tool
Lights requried... (I used Cool White LEDs from superbrightleds.com)
7 WLED-CW5
1 T 1.5-CW: 5mm
2 NEO5-W: 5mm
Now lets get started...
First thing, pull the dash piece off. Using your hands, pull gently on the cover and pop the tabs out. Be careful not to crack or break it though because it is cheap plastic.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-04-36_803.jpg
Next, you will see the instrument cluster. Look straight at it and you will see 4 Philips screws holding it in. 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Pull those out and the cluster will come loose. Pull it out towards you.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-08-39_718.jpg
It will still be attached at the back by the transmission shift indicator cable. There are 2 screws on the back that hold it in. Use a Philips screwdriver and pull them out, then the cluster will be free and you can pull it out of the truck.
Now that you have the cluster out, flip it over and you will see the lights. For mine, there are 7 red twist locks. Those are your main ones.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-14-48_654.jpg
Twist them slighty to the left and pull out. This is what they look like stock.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-15-23_215.jpg
Time to pull the stock lights out of the original twist locks. Take somekind of prying tool (I used a small pocket knife) and push upwards on the metal tabs from the bottom. They should start to come out.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-32-11_315.jpg
Once you have them out far enough, you can take some needlenose pliers and pull it the rest of the way out from the top. KEEP the metal connectors because you will need them for the new lights. Pull the stock bulb out and now you have an empty twist lock. Repeat this for all lights.
Now take one of the WLED-CW5 lights and pull the little wires out and away from the bottom. Take the light and push it into the twist lock, and making the wires pertrude from the bottom.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-38-26_407-1.jpg
Take two metal connectors you saved and push them back in.
Next you will take the wires and wrap them up and around the metal connetor so they will make good contact.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-40-48_808.jpg
Put the twist lock back into one of the holes and twist to the right and ensure it's tight. Repeat these steps for the rest of your WLED-CW5 lights.
Next is thte climate control lights. Pull the 4 Philips head screws out and pull the unit out. DO NOT take off vaccuum lines or connectors.
Look at the back of the unit and you will see two gray circles. Those are the lights. Take a flathead screwdriver and twist the twist lock slightly to the left. It should come right out.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_17-24-23_156.jpg
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_17-24-34_949.jpg
The lights I ordered had to big of a twist lock, so you will have to unwrap the original and LED from their twist locks and put the LED into the original twist lock and rewrap the wires like they were. It's pretty simple if you just look at it a minute. This is what they look like.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_20-31-37_42.jpg
Once you do that, put the lights back in the climate control unit and twist back slightly to the right, ensuring a tight fit.
Now thats done, I put a LED in the storage deal next to the radio. This is optional but looks pretty cool.
Take a LED like this one, you can get a pack at Advance Auto but if you want to do white, I can hook you up with a few of them since I got pleanty of them. Just PM me if you want a few.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_21-16-40_56.jpg
Pull the 3 Philips head screws out that are holding it in. It will pop right out. I wired my light to the wires going to the cup holder light. Pull the light out of the cupholder, disconnect the light bulb and pull the wires up behind the radio.
Take wire like in picture below, and splice it to the wires from the cupholder. One postitive, one negative. Then run the wire to where the light will be and splice it to the LED. The longer wire on the LED is positive. It'll look something like this.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-36-05_482.jpg
Next take the storage thing and drill a hole at the top of it just big enough to where the light will fit in. Now take the LED and pop it through the hole, and put storage thing back in its place and put the screws back in.
I DID NOT do the headlight switch as I couldn't figure it out but you can find out how to do it on Google. Reason I didn't is because honestly it doesn't make sense. I just pulled the light out and left it dark. But thats just me, it's totally up to you.
Now that your done, admire your work! Here's mine.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-42-34_501.jpg
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-45-37_12.jpg
If you have any questions, just pm me and I'll see what I can do to help.
Tools required...
Philips Screwdriver
Flathead Screwdriver
Needlenose Pliers
Knife or somekind of prying tool
Lights requried... (I used Cool White LEDs from superbrightleds.com)
7 WLED-CW5
1 T 1.5-CW: 5mm
2 NEO5-W: 5mm
Now lets get started...
First thing, pull the dash piece off. Using your hands, pull gently on the cover and pop the tabs out. Be careful not to crack or break it though because it is cheap plastic.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-04-36_803.jpg
Next, you will see the instrument cluster. Look straight at it and you will see 4 Philips screws holding it in. 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Pull those out and the cluster will come loose. Pull it out towards you.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-08-39_718.jpg
It will still be attached at the back by the transmission shift indicator cable. There are 2 screws on the back that hold it in. Use a Philips screwdriver and pull them out, then the cluster will be free and you can pull it out of the truck.
Now that you have the cluster out, flip it over and you will see the lights. For mine, there are 7 red twist locks. Those are your main ones.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-14-48_654.jpg
Twist them slighty to the left and pull out. This is what they look like stock.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-15-23_215.jpg
Time to pull the stock lights out of the original twist locks. Take somekind of prying tool (I used a small pocket knife) and push upwards on the metal tabs from the bottom. They should start to come out.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-32-11_315.jpg
Once you have them out far enough, you can take some needlenose pliers and pull it the rest of the way out from the top. KEEP the metal connectors because you will need them for the new lights. Pull the stock bulb out and now you have an empty twist lock. Repeat this for all lights.
Now take one of the WLED-CW5 lights and pull the little wires out and away from the bottom. Take the light and push it into the twist lock, and making the wires pertrude from the bottom.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-38-26_407-1.jpg
Take two metal connectors you saved and push them back in.
Next you will take the wires and wrap them up and around the metal connetor so they will make good contact.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_16-40-48_808.jpg
Put the twist lock back into one of the holes and twist to the right and ensure it's tight. Repeat these steps for the rest of your WLED-CW5 lights.
Next is thte climate control lights. Pull the 4 Philips head screws out and pull the unit out. DO NOT take off vaccuum lines or connectors.
Look at the back of the unit and you will see two gray circles. Those are the lights. Take a flathead screwdriver and twist the twist lock slightly to the left. It should come right out.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_17-24-23_156.jpg
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_17-24-34_949.jpg
The lights I ordered had to big of a twist lock, so you will have to unwrap the original and LED from their twist locks and put the LED into the original twist lock and rewrap the wires like they were. It's pretty simple if you just look at it a minute. This is what they look like.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_20-31-37_42.jpg
Once you do that, put the lights back in the climate control unit and twist back slightly to the right, ensuring a tight fit.
Now thats done, I put a LED in the storage deal next to the radio. This is optional but looks pretty cool.
Take a LED like this one, you can get a pack at Advance Auto but if you want to do white, I can hook you up with a few of them since I got pleanty of them. Just PM me if you want a few.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_21-16-40_56.jpg
Pull the 3 Philips head screws out that are holding it in. It will pop right out. I wired my light to the wires going to the cup holder light. Pull the light out of the cupholder, disconnect the light bulb and pull the wires up behind the radio.
Take wire like in picture below, and splice it to the wires from the cupholder. One postitive, one negative. Then run the wire to where the light will be and splice it to the LED. The longer wire on the LED is positive. It'll look something like this.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-36-05_482.jpg
Next take the storage thing and drill a hole at the top of it just big enough to where the light will fit in. Now take the LED and pop it through the hole, and put storage thing back in its place and put the screws back in.
I DID NOT do the headlight switch as I couldn't figure it out but you can find out how to do it on Google. Reason I didn't is because honestly it doesn't make sense. I just pulled the light out and left it dark. But thats just me, it's totally up to you.
Now that your done, admire your work! Here's mine.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-42-34_501.jpg
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac78/ramthis9501/2011-12-02_22-45-37_12.jpg
If you have any questions, just pm me and I'll see what I can do to help.